Noel Streatfeild

Skating Shoes

Skating Shoes The beloved Noel Streatfeild classic back in print It s a stroke of great luck when Harriet Johnson s doctor prescribes skating after an illness that has left her feeling frail and listless For on her

Title: Skating Shoes

Author: Noel Streatfeild

ISBN: 9780440477310

Page: 473

Format: Paperback

The beloved Noel Streatfeild classic back in print It s a stroke of great luck when Harriet Johnson s doctor prescribes skating after an illness that has left her feeling frail and listless For on her very first day at the rink, Harriet meets orphaned Lalla Moore, who is being brought up by her wealthy aunt Claudia to be a skating champion Although they have little in coThe beloved Noel Streatfeild classic back in print It s a stroke of great luck when Harriet Johnson s doctor prescribes skating after an illness that has left her feeling frail and listless For on her very first day at the rink, Harriet meets orphaned Lalla Moore, who is being brought up by her wealthy aunt Claudia to be a skating champion Although they have little in common, the girls form a fast friendship Harriet is energized by talented, funny Lalla, and Lalla in turn blossoms under the affection of openhearted Harriet The girls skate together and But just as Lalla s interest in skating starts to fade, Harriet s natural talent begins to emerge Suddenly Lalla and Harriet seem headed in two very different directions Can their friendship survive

About The Author

Mary Noel Streatfeild, known as Noel Streatfeild, was an author best known and loved for her children s books, including Ballet Shoes and Circus Shoes She was born on Christmas Eve, 1895, the daughter of William Champion Streatfeild and Janet Venn and the second of six children to be born to the couple Sister Ruth was the oldest, after Noel came Barbara, William Bill , Joyce who died of TB prior to her second birthday and Richenda Ruth and Noel attended Hastings and St Leonard s Ladies College in 1910 As an adult, she began theater work, and spent approximately 10 years in the theater During the Great War, in 1915 Noel worked first as a volunteer in a soldier s hospital kitchen near Eastbourne Vicarage and later produced two plays with her sister Ruth When things took a turn for the worse on the Front in 1916 she moved to London and obtained a job making munitions in Woolwich Arsenal At the end of the war in January 1919, Noel enrolled at the Academy of Dramatic Art later Royal Academy in London In 1930, she began writing her first adult novel, The Whicharts, published in 1931 In June 1932, she was elected to membership of PEN Early in 1936, Mabel Carey, children s editor of J M Dent and Sons, asks Noel to write a children s story about the theatre, which led to Noel completing Ballet Shoes in mid 1936 In 28 September 1936, when Ballet Shoes was published, it became an immediate best seller.According to Angela Bull, Ballet Shoes was a reworked version of The Whicharts Elder sister Ruth Gervis illustrated the book, which was published on the 28th September, 1936 At the time, the plot and general attitude of the book was highly original, and destined to provide an outline for countless other ballet books down the years until this day The first known book to be set at a stage school, the first ballet story to be set in London, the first to feature upper middle class society, the first to show the limits of amateurism and possibly the first to show children as self reliant, able to survive without running to grownups when things went wrong.In 1937, Noel traveled with Bertram Mills Circus to research The Circus is Coming also known as Circus Shoes She won the Carnegie gold medal in February 1939 for this book In 1940, World War II began, and Noel began war related work from 1940 1945 During this time, she wrote four adult novels, five children s books, nine romances, and innumerable articles and short stories On May 10th, 1941, her flat was destroyed by a bomb Shortly after WWII is over, in 1947, Noel traveled to America to research film studios for her book The Painted Garden In 1949, she began delivering lectures on children s books Between 1949 and 1953, her plays, The Bell Family radio serials played on the Children s Hour and were frequently voted top play of the year Early in 1960s, she decided to stop writing adult novels, but did write some autobiographical novels, such as A Vicarage Family in 1963 She also had written 12 romance novels under the pen name Susan Scarlett Her children s books number at least 58 titles From July to December 1979, she suffered a series of small strokes and moved into a nursing home In 1983, she received the honor Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE On 11 September 1986, she passed away in a nursing home.

966 Comment

Top Nine Reasons I Love Skating Shoes & Am Grateful I Read It Again: 1) It was one of my favorite books as a child and it still holds up. 2) It has lines like this: “During the last six months the little girl Harriet, without her noticing it, had disappeared and a new Harriet had taken her place. A Harriet who looked much the same outside, but was more of a person inside.”3) I had totally forgotten that the book took place in England. (Not sure if this is a testament to my terrible memor [...]

Streatfeild has the most charming, insightful, compassionate way of describing human interactions. This is my least favorite of her Shoes books so far, mostly because skating offers fewer opportunities than theater to describe the terrifying/magical feelings of auditions and performances (my favorite aspect of the other books). But "least favorite" of the Shoes books doesn't say much - they're all beautiful.

This is by the author of the memorable "Shoes" books, an old favorite. It is, oddly enough, one of the two books not in the "Shoes" line named after footwear. Trivia, for those of you interested in such. Like the "Shoes" books, it focuses on a young, underprivileged heroine fortuitously encountering a greatly privileged counterpart and forging a friendship that benefits and develops both lives, surviving jealousy, etc.However, this particular story isn't up to Ms. Streatfeild's own level of achi [...]

Why did Uncle David stay with Aunt Claudia? Surely he could have done better. Update: One of my favorites of the 'Shoes' books. With this re-read, I was amazed by the number of adults that conspired to help both Lalla and Harriet. This is also one of the few Streatfeild books that focuses more on friendship than on family relationships. It certainly contains one of my favorite Streatfeild Nanas: "She did not hold with ice, nasty, damp stuff, but she defied any ice to give a chill to a child who [...]

The story of spider-like Harriet, recovering from illness, learning how to skate and becoming friends with Lalla Moore, who is destined to be a figure skating star, is one of my favorites. I probably read it for the first time in third grade and at least a dozen times since, including an unplanned reread today. This is a great read on Boxing Day! Here is a link to my review:perfectretort/201

This is probably one of the best Streatfields. It was also one of my favorites growing up. It's probably because I had a better idea of what figure skating looked like than ballet, rather than the book actually being better, because Skating Shoes has a lot of familiar elements. Though they are very well done here; the Johnson family dynamic is great, and Harriet becoming a possibility through sheer coincidence and hard work is fun to read about. It's interesting that Streatfield casually has wea [...]

I didn't care much for this book. I was interested to read it but found few of the events and characters engaging. There were too many situations and even phrases drawn from earlier books and too little actual explanation of what "brackets" or "edge work" was, for people like me who have never ice-skated (or rollerskated, come to that.) In the afterword, the author's son talks of the hours of painstaking research done at rinks--and yet none of that shows up in the text. It took me awhile to figu [...]

This is one of the very few books that I reread a million times as a child, but have not really read since, so I only remembered the broad outline of the plot, and didn't necessarily know what was going to happen next at every turn. I enjoyed that so much -- it was like reading it for the first time, but even better because I was already primed for the satisfying emotional moments, even if I couldn't remember what they consisted of.There's a lot I missed as a kid -- that Lalla is the main charac [...]

What a lovely story! First published in 1951, this is a story for young girls about a spoilt only child who is destined to become the next skating star who receieves her comeuppance when she makes friends with a poor, ill child who is prescribed to take up skating to improve the strength in her legs. White Boots explores the friendship between the two girls, their winnings and failures as amateur skaters and the lifestyles of the two very different families. Streatfeild can write very humorously [...]

Still working my way through the "shoe books" when I can find them (which can be tough). Another lovely story that any little girl would love to read and reread. Gosh I wish I had read these as a child because “when you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does. And I've gotten carried away, haven't I?" Sorry couldn't help the You've Got Mail reference. :)

Ballet shoes was one of my favorite books as a child. It gave a warm-blankety feeling to go back to Streatfeild after many years - a world where people from diverse social classes become friends, unexpected kind patrons help you discover your potential and fulfill your dreams, goodness is rewarded, and well, badness does not really exist. It felt nice. Nice is good.Thinking of reading some Enid Blyton family adventures next.

One of my favorite books as a kid! The story of two girls who become friends as they train together in figure skating, the one because she is the daughter of a famous skater, the other as a way to recuperate from a long illness. I loved everything about this book, the descriptions of the moves they were learning, their clothes, the dialogue . . . and what little girl hasn't dreamed of being an ice skater?! An utterly charming book!

Harriet Johnson, a nine year old girl who “resembles a spider”, has been advised by her doctor to build up strength in her legs through ice skating following a recent illness. Her family are close-knit and happy even though they have little in material terms. She can’t afford ice skates, so her brother decides to take on some work so he can pay for the lessons and hire some boots for her. Once at the rink, Harriet becomes friendly with Lalla, a girl of her own age who seems destined for fa [...]

Like many children of the 1990s, I suspect, I was introduced to the "Shoes" books after my mom saw "You've Got Mail" and bought several of the books at the suggestion of Meg Ryan's character. It took some time, but I eventually fell in love with "Ballet Shoes" and then "Dancing Shoes"; I also came to enjoy "Theatre Shoes" and "Movie Shoes," though they didn't hold the same special place in my heart. For me, "Skating Shoes" was more like the latter two books. Maybe it was because I took so long t [...]

This was a childhood favorite, I wanted to be Harriet so badly when I was 10. Then I read Lord of the Rings and wanted to be a Rider of Rohan when I grew up. Sadly neither happened, and don't tell anyone but I've never been ice skating that I can remember. My mom bought me this when I was about 9, in response to my father gifting me Dracula, Lord of the Rings and Jane Eyre. She thought she could get me to read proper children's books instead of the adult orientated choices my father made. I neve [...]

I did not read this as a child, so my perspective is that of an adult who was also an accomplished ice skater. This was not a satisfying read. I only gave it 3 stars because there was some interesting historical content especially regarding skating. However, the skating content was insufficient to provide any real understanding to readers who are not already familiar with the sport. For those who know skating, not enough detail was provided to be satisfying or convincing. It was just too vague t [...]

Noel Streatfeild has a very obvious style.In "White Boots", she first introduces us to nine-year-old Harriet Johnson. Harriet's sick and has "cotton-woolish" legs, so her doctor recommends that she take up skating. At the rink, Harriet, having never properly skated before, is finding things very difficult. Until Lalla Moore, a girl around the same age as Harriet, who has been skating since she was three, takes Harriet under her wing and begins to teach her the basics of skating. Funnily enough, [...]

I was talking to a friend about books we loved as children and she mentioned the " shoe" series by Noel Streatfeild. She was so enthusiastic about them that I thought I would read one. I picked " Skating Shoes" because I loved to skate as a child. The main character in the book, Harriet, was told by the doctor that she needed to skate to strengthen her legs. Coincidentally, I was told I needed to skate to strengthen my ankles! So of course I identified with Harriet right away! That is where any [...]

I have always loved Noel Streatfeild's books and as a child I got my library to ILL them for me or hunted through second hand book stores to find all of them. She tells the perfect "girls stories". I was always able to find one character in each book that was my favorite. They definitely stand up to re-reads.

I did enjoy some of this book, but I felt there were some lengthy passages and some things that felt banged in there, just for culture's sake, but out of place (Shakespeare etc)Some good themes though, about pushing children to achieve